Spring and Poppin'Poppin"

I had a 2 year old granddaughter sleeping over all last week and every time she climbed up on my lap (which was often) she kept saying poppin poppin which is her way of saying Popcorn Popping which is the name of a song that goes:

I looked out the window and what did I see?
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise
Blossoms popping right before my eyes
I can take an arm full to make a treat
A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet
It wasn't really so but it seemed to me
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Then when you finished singing she would just say "more". This morning when I opened up my blinds and curtains I was met with cherry trees covered in blossoms and the sun was shining strong. It made me smile as I thought of this little munchkin and her poppin poppin and wondered if she understood what blossoms on a tree meant lol. But as I opened up the blinds I noticed how dirty the windows were so I opened them all up wide as well as the patio door and started cleaning. First the doors then the windows then went in the bedroom to do those ones and thought time to flip the mattress over and change into summer bedding. Then went from that to laundry.

Then as I cleaned the couch I lifted the cushions and found all sorts of treats so got that vaccumed which in turn became behind the furniture and under the furniture then the closets as I went to put laundry away. I dry cleaned all my winter suits and got them put away in the other closet. You have to love the home dry cleaning kit!!!! No more dry cleaning bills!

Then I went to do the bathrooms and went to clean out under the sink and turned. I was reminded of WHY I DO NOT do spring cleaning anymore nor vacuum nor do walls and windows. I stopped what I was doing even though in my mind I still had lots more to do. I knew I would be in pain before long and tomorrow would be worse. But as I stood at the kitchen window to get a drink of water I inhaled the clean scent of my home, the clean scent of freshly washed laundry and I looked at the cherry tree as it poppin poppined right before my eyes :)

Family History Fair

Well my Family History Fair that I was planning for several months now has come and gone on Saturday and I am so thankful. I always give too much of myself in preparation and in putting it together (get that from being raised with the quote if you are going to do something do it well or don't do it at all!) and am always so exhausted when I am done both physically and mentally.

Lareta and her family stayed here this week as their house was being painted and I chose to sit and visit with her and the kids instead of getting ready so ended up pulling an all nighter Friday night getting things ready. Although I absolutely LOVED having someone stay up till 3 am with me to chat :) I had decided for the refreshments to have homemade bread and butter as that was a staple in pioneer days so on Friday made 15 loaves of homemade bread. After I was done kneading that huge batch my shoulders and neck reminded me of why I only make small batches of bread these days!!

But the comments on the bread was well worth it lol. Actually the feedback from the entire fair was WONDERFUL! It really fed my ego let me tell you. Even the Family History Director who taught one of the classes was very pleased with my efforts. She hosts a huge fair each October and told me she was going to do some of the same classes that I had. So I guess that is a good compliment :)

So today is going to be spent cleaning up and putting all my things away. I think it is going to be a "stay in my jammies" day today.

I was putting sweaters away this morning and found my hockey jersey that Keith had gotten me for Christmas 3 years ago. It was seeing this picture that propelled me big time to start losing weight. I decided to put it back on today and as you can see by the picture add a grandchild to the shirt!! :) I can't believe I used to look like that!!! EWWWWWWWWWWW

Shopping Find

So I am in Seattle a couple of weeks ago shopping in this store and could hear my name being called. There to my surprise was a bag madly waving its handles at me crying out "Buy me Buy me!!" I walked over and there to my surprise was a bag with my blog's name on it. Well I did the only smart thing. I bought it. Of course that was before I got to the counter and the clerk said how much it was! On the way home I noticed it also had the letters RS on it and although I knew what it really stood for I would like to think it stood for Really Smart shopper :=)

Heebie Jeebies

So here it is 2:30 am and still up and around. Two nights ago my head was really hurting and I just could not lay down and still had not slept by the time Keith left for work at 5. Finally at 8:30 in the morning I said this is crap I am going to take a couple of pain killers and go to bed even for just a rest. I must have fallen asleep finally from sheer exhaustion. We have a black out blind in our room that when pulled down makes the room pitch black.

All of a sudden I felt I was dreaming and that someone was shaking me by holding on to my upper arms and lifting me off the bed from the waist up to shake me. I realized it was not a dream and woke up in a huge cold sweat. Just as I woke up I was "thrown" back on the bed. My first thought was Keith had come home for some reason and maybe had heard me cry out so he was waking me up (which that has happened before) but when I called out his name he wasn't in the room. I turned on the night stand light and there was just me. The bedroom door was closed. I got up and went around the house sweating bullets the whole time but there was no one there but me. I checked the doors and everything was bolted locked.

As I stood in the kitchen wondering what the heck had just happened I realized that my upper arms were still aching from having been squeezed. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I said prayers REAL FAST let me tell you. I have not had that experience for about 13 years and I had thought those "visits" had stopped. I don't know why this happened but now I am too scared to go to bed even though Keith and Curt have me a blessing last night and Keith is here I am just too scared to close my eyes.

UPDATE

I got a new lamp today to finish this table off. You can't really see but the base is clear glass and I took a bunch of iridescent and white smooth "marbles/stones" and filled half of the base with them. The lamp has a 3 way light to go from dim to bright and fits that wall perfectly! And it was only $24.99 to boot! Happy happy!!

Haysom Clan

If you notice at the top of my page you will see a new link for our home page that Keith has been working on. It is under construction but please feel free to check out your last name under the righ talphabet if you are a family member and see if we missed you :)

Liquid Calories

I was reading this health magazine at the doctor's office last week and came across this article about hidden sugars and calories in our diet. It also stressed how at times as parents, we think we are giving our children a healthy alternative to pop in beverages when we are actually doing worse by them. I wrote down the top drinks that they had and all I can say is thank goodness I can't stand chocolate milk!!

McDonalds chocolate milkshake 698 ml
14.75 tsp sugar 237 calories

DQ mocha moolatte 454 ml
6.95 tsp sugar 170 calories

Tropicana Twister Fruit Fusion 475 ml
10 tsp sugar 220 calories

Chocolate milk 220 ml
39.5 tsp sugar (no not a typo!!!) 1100 calories

Fruitopia strawberry Passion Awareness 473 ml
12 tsp sugar 227 calories

Tim Horton's hot chocolate 10 oz
19 tsp sugar 590 calories

Dole Apple juice 475 ml
14.95 tsp sugar 240 calories

I think I will stick to water!!!

Hard Headed Woman

So I finally made it to my doctor's on Friday to get this head of mine checked out. She checked it alright and said it was pretty swollen back there. I said well that would be fine except I hit my head on the top not at the back of it at the base. She said what I have done is hit it so hard the skull has jammed into my 1st vertebrae of my neck. Nice. And because of this, my nerve endings are compressed which is what the other doctor has suggested. Double nice. So I asked why the intense burning sensation and the feeling that I have bugs crawling under my skull. She said it's because every time my brain sends a thought out it sends impulses down to my nerves and because the nerve endings are compressed and caught in the jammed vertebrae, the impulses misfire causing the burning stinging crawling sensation. Oh joy. She said when the pain becomes intense or the heat intensifies it is because my brain is too busy with thought and I need to relax. Snort.

Then she started to chuckle and says she doesn't mean to make light of my situation but she said only I could do this. I said well my mother always told me if I was going to do something to do it right the first time or not do it at all. She also always said I was too hard headed for my own good. Thanks Mom.

I have to go and see her physio therapist which is all the way into Abbotsford because she said she wouldn't trust any one else to fix this. She said he will have to "lift" my head off my neck in traction to get the weight off the nerve endings. But she said to expect the headaches and the sensations to continue for several weeks. Oh I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!!! All this two weeks before my big Family History Fair.

Pet Peeves

I have decided that when I become President of the World I will pass laws to abolish all my pet peeves that I have with things and people. Feel free to add your pet peeves on here and I will be more then happy to add them to my to do list.

1. Cheap venetian blinds that go in rental homes and every time you go to open or close the blinds the cords get tangled and you can never get them to sit at a very straight line

2. People who lay on their horns when you are at a red light. You sit there and you start wondering what else you could be doing and the light changes. It has only been a split second but the idiot behind you is laying on the horn and doing the one finger wave at the top of their lungs. Idiots. Do you not realize by doing that I am forced to become as infantile and I will take my time getting across the intersection just to tick you off. I would have been happy with a little tap of your horn but come on !! Get real!

3. People who do NOT pick up their doggy doo doo's when they take them out for a walk. People..... don't get a dog if you can not be responsible in taking care of it which means bringing baggies with you to pick the stuff up! Idiots.

4.TV Reruns.. some shows have just started and we are into reruns already!! Come on what every happened to shows starting in Sept and going all the way to May. Now they have shows starting whenever the year and season endings now which is way too early!

I am having a cranky day today. I have had a non stop headache for 2 weeks yesterday now. I hit my head really really hard on the end of a shelf while I was helping Lareta with her laundry when I was there. The headache came and I put ice on it. The goose egg went away after a few days but the headache has stayed and the back of my head right at the base has a huge bump on that now and it gets so HOT HOT HOT that it feels like flames are on it. I figured out for the walk in clinic doc that it sounds like the snap on the head has compressed the cranial nerve endings and they are inflamed and will remain till the nerves settle down. HELLO??? Do you know who I am? The Queen of Stress!! Oh sure these nerve endings will settle down but I am pretty sure NOT TODAY!

Lareta hurry up and get better I am bored sitting at home by myself!!!

It's a start

So I had to think of what I could do to change this room with my finances which are basically nill and came across these tables (coffee table and 2 end tables) from someone who was going to throw them away. By doing so I was able to get rid of the green little bookcase and the green coffee table. The people that had them though were obviously heavy smokers as the smell on them when I picked them up was terrible. I spent several hours last night and this morning scrubbing them down and although they smell better they still smell. You really can't see the edging around the top or on the top but I need to get a toothbrush to clean it there it is almost black from the nicotine.

I got some new candles and the flowers are courtesy from Curt and Lareta and it improved the room a lot already. By getting rid of the other black end table which was host to the kids toys, and the bookcase which was host to the kids books and coloring stuff the "mess" has disappeared. I had an empty cupboard on the entertainment stand so all the toys went in there out of sight and the rest of the things got put away.

So I am happy for now :) When it is spring I will take the tables outside to sand them down and refinish them but I have to wait till then as I can't have the dust in the house or the smell of the varnish inside. Thanks for all the ideas everyone!!

Need your thinking caps on!!

Ok I got spring bug fever when I got my new bedding for my bedroom and I am soooooo impatient with this winter. I want to decorate. Now I can not paint or wallpaper this house (stupid idiots) but there has to be something I can do to change the look of my living room dining room combination. HELP!! Any one have any ideas? I am open to all and any suggestions except for the one that will says that my family portrait has to get down from the fireplace.. that is never going to go over well with my psche.. anything else you got??? I am ready to get this show on the road~

ooops

I forgot to add the pictures... and I don't know how to add them to a post already done...

Shopping versus cleaning

So I am standing in the shower this morning reaching for a towel off the rack when all I felt was blank air. I look up and notice no clean towels.. groan... I really need to fire this maid... so I grabbed the towel that Keith used last night (thank goodness he had hung it up properly). Then as I am standing in front of the mirror doing my hair I notice a wide swatch of white all around my forehead.. now I have been known to leave conditioner in my hair cause I forget to rinse so I look closer in the mirror and lo and behold it is WHITE hair!!!!!!!!!! A wide swatch of white hair!!! Where the heck did that come from???

So first no towels... then this white hair then I go in the bedroom to put the towels in the hamper and I see this big stack of laundry sitting there... ughhhh I did the only sane thing I could think of.. I went shopping. Now I had no list of things to buy.. well actually other then something to cover this grey and some things Lareta needed and I had to go to the produce market, I just wanted to get out of the house. By the way Lareta it is no fun whatsover shopping without you.

I am in the bedding department and see this sign for bed in a bag for $79.00!!!! I think ok obviously that is crappy stuff and horrid colors etc but I wander over and there right before my very eyes is the absolutely most perfect shade of blue! If I was a crayon I would be that blue. I would have bought it just for the sheets it was so perfect blue but there is more! I got a reversible comforter, not one but TWO complete sets of sheets, one set solid and one set striped including pillowcases, 2 sets of shams and 4 ornamental pillows! So I think nah.. that can't be right.. someone must have thought these were on sale found out they weren't and just stuck them on that shelf but I took them to the scanner and sure as shooting they were 79.00!!!

Well what could I do? I had to put them in the cart! Then I go around the corner into the next aisle and there are these beautiful white embroidered sheet set of 450 thread count with 17" pockets!! For 29.00!!! Was it my birthday and no one told me today??? So in the cart they went! Add to it a push up bra in MY SIZE that actually fit!! and I was a very happy girl!

Now I am home and realized that I forgot to go to the produce market and I forgot to get stuff for my hair but I am going to sleep like a baby tonight in my new bedding :=)

Hockey Night in Canada

Last night Keith and I went to a hockey game with friends. They had gotten us some tickets last week and we didn't want to waste them even though I really wasn't up emotionally or physically to going. I decided part way through the game that when I become President of the World Hockey Association the first things I was going to do was change the following three things:

1. Make all pucks a fluorescent fuschia color so that one can follow the puck more easily. I am a sports fan but watching hockey on tv where the camera is focused on the puck is easier then at the actual stadium where you have to follow it yourself but you are too busy watching everything else going on around you.

2. All alcohol will be banned. There is nothing more nauseating when you are trying to watch a game and some idiot is breathing beer breath over your shoulder as he yells at the players

3. I understand that at times collision between 2 players that are skating at top speeds will happen and that it is an accident but when someone deliberately shoulder checks someone into the boards they would get an automatic 10 minute misconduct. If they did it a second time they would not only be off the ice but they would be banished to the dressing room for the remainder of the game.

At the very beginning of the game literally 2 seconds into the start, the referee had barely dropped the first puck onto the ice when a player from the visiting team just punches the face of another player. It took 4 minutes of fighting before the referee's stepped in!!! What is the point of having referees if they are going to stand there picking their noses?? Off with their heads I say!!!

But the highlight of the game was watching the little Timbits players come out to play during the intermission. They were so very cute some of them had sticks bigger then they were hehehehe. We also had seats in Row 1!!!! Just to the left of the net so needless to say I had the sensation of whiplash many times during the game from jerking back when the players literally ran into our faces... well at least to us women it seemed like they were landing in our laps! They were so close you could count their nose hairs!

But I did manage to catch a flying puck!!!! I caught one at the last game I was at too :) You snooze you lose Keith :)

Just because

12 1/3rd

We would like to announce that we are going to be granparents at least once this year. Our daughter Lareta and son in law Curt. He and their only son (with 4 sisters) are praying for a little boy. Darien just wants a brother and Curt wants the testosterone levels to raise up and scream dominance with the bathroom he can never find with all the females in there!!

Wait oh wait Curt... puberty is waiting around the corner for you!!!! lol

Missing you

I have had a difficult emotional last few days. It makes 5 years this week that my only sister died of cancer and I still miss her terribly. We were only 2 years apart in age. I guess part of it was because it made me think of the grandchildren she would never get to know. I thought about her when we found out we were going to be grandparents again this fall. I wanted to tell her and then I realized I couldn't. I know in my head that one day I will see her again but it doesn't help my heart any right now.
This was taken a couple of years before she was diagnoses with cancer. She was like me in a lot of ways. She loved anything outdoors especially riding horses and fishing. She is the one on the right and this is her daughter Robin with her.








Adele is on the right hand side with Robin again. This was just before she got sick.

















This was taken at her last Christmas a couple of months before she died. She had already lost a lot of weight. This is my last picture I have of her.

What was I thinking???

So here it is almost 4:30am and I can't sleep. I did too much today with the moving stuff around and all the bending to put things away and pick up off the floor plus 5 loads of laundry. I really need to find a new maid. This one keeps taking days off! So as I was sitting up pacing the floor I decided I would go through one of the large boxes of pictures to sort them into the photo boxes. Actually I thought I would go through all of them but it took me 3 hours just to do one!! I had to go over the memories of each one and remember what was going on in the picture. I also came to the realization I take wayyyyyy too many pictures of our grandchildren!!

But what I did come across was 3 sets of 2 pictures that I want to share. The first set is of me at my very heaviest weight 3 years ago when I started my weight loss movement and of me at my lightest as an adult(Dancing with my dad). I weight 120-125 pounds in that one and thinking back to that particular day (my parents 25th ann) I remember thinking in my peon brain that I looked very stylish!!! Now seeing this same picture I have to think what kind of drugs was I on to think I looked so chic??? lol
Youth !! What can I say? I was 21 years old!
The second set of pictures was about 11 years ago at the Happiest Place on Earth! Yup you guessed it! Disneyland :)
The last set of pictures is of my mom, Lareta Senthia my grandmothers and myself in 5 generation pictures.My mom is in the white top/jacket in both pics and the one wearing the red shirt was my dad's mom with my mom's mom in the floral print. What I want to know was why did no one tell me what I looked like BEFORE these pictures were taken?? HELLLLO!!

I will never get to sleep now thinking I actually went out in public like that! Oh the shame of it all!

YEA!! I am organized!

In November I had Keith (after many numerous requests) switch rooms between my work space and the spare bedroom. I tried getting it together but then it was Christmas then had my training with work etc etc and just never seemed to find the time. But this afternoon I got everything put away and can now put my hands on what I need. The only bad thing that happened during this process was I had gotten some (sealed I might add) "kit" of potpourri, magazine rack, scented closet hangers etc etc that I wanted to put in here to make it special. Five minutes after just opening the package I developed a huge migraine and had to seal it all up and put it out on the back patio!! When I had scratched and sniffed the little decal at the store (it was honeysuckle and plum) I fell in love with the scent. I am not the kind of person that likes smelly houses of fruit and trees and rose gardens. I like my home to smell clean and fresh. It never occurred to me that a 100 people may have scratched that exact same decal before me and so doing so had minimized the fragrance. Oh well hey Lareta??? Want it ?? :) So here are some pictures of my completed room. I no longer have to clear my desk every time I change projects from computer to sewing to scrap booking to anything. I have 4 clear definite work areas. Now if I can only figure out how to clear out the lingering honeysuckle out of here I might be able to stay in here longer then 5 minutes lol


This cabinet Keith built for me about a year or so ago. The top left doors hold my fabric and top right fax paper, envelopes etc. Shelf is my sewing area and the shelf actually pulls out 2.5 feet which is the dept of the cabinet. just under this shelf that moves is a space that I put my large poster board etc. Don't ask why I have a tobaggan beside it :)




The first desk is my writing space where I do my family history and work on lessons that I have to teach etc. The boxes on top hold my magazines and how to manuals. Each one is labeled so I know at a glance where something is












This obviously is my computer desk where Snuggles the boss keeps a parental eye on me to make sure I don't go on any sites I shouldn't be on!










This is my scrap booking work station. It also is where I work on or will be working on my pictures and photo albums. You will notice under the desks are file boxes. These are FILLED with photos that need to be organized. On top of the top shelf are some empty photo boxes that I got for Christmas from Keith and now I can sort through the big boxes into some semblance of order.












This is the final area and this holds my scrap booking, craft and sewing supplies. The wicker cabinet bottom area is filled with paper of every kind for albums. Also holds all my cardstock.

So that's my organized area.. Now what should I build today? :)

Dream Home

I have had this dream binder for as long as I have been an adult. Anytime I go somewhere whether to someone's home or at a store to window shop and I see something I file the idea/pictures/thoughts in my dream binder. Of course in my dream binder I have unlimited money hehehe. So I thought I would share with you what my idea of my dream home would be :)





This is the outside and the bottom floor or the grand floor as it is called.





















These are the east and west wings that just out in the front of the building on both sides.












This is the second floor grand floor without the wings on the east and west sides :)


















This is the second floor that is including entertainment rooms, media rooms, offices and suites as well.

You have to follow the first and second floor staircases to know where each part of these second floor areas goes over the first floor.

































These are the wings for first and second east and west wings




And these are the turrets that will go up to the Princesses towers. After all we have 8 granddaughters that think they are Princesses and how could we as their mere beck and callers build a house without their towers!!

Family History Fair flyer

So I spent literally hours working on the flyer/invitation to this Family History Fair that I am doing next month and I show it to Keith this morning. He just kind of flips both sides and says "It's a little big isn't it? Can't you cut it down as in a regular invitation? Uh No! If you wanted things to look the same thing as same old same old you shouldn't have asked me to do it. Now I have to figure out how to post it on here so all of you can see it lol.. I have done it before but as most things in my head it has since disappeared.

This is the back of the flyer:

Letter to Family and Friends

Hello Family, Friends, and Anyone Wishing to Know Me,

Allow me to begin by thanking you for taking the time out of your day to spend some time with me and get to know me better. A person’s time is their most valuable asset and yours is appreciated.

I want to talk to you about Fibromyalgia (FM) and Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS). Many have never heard of these conditions and for those who have, many are misinformed. And because of this judgments are made that may not be correct… So I ask you to keep an open mind as I try to explain who I am and how FM/MPS has assaulted not only my life but those whom I love as well.

You see, I suffer from a disease that you cannot see; a disease that there is no cure for and that keeps the medical community baffled at how to treat and battle this demon, who’s attacks are relentless. My pain works silently, stealing my joy and replacing it with tears. On the outside we look alike you and I; you wont see my scars as you would a person who, say, had suffered a car accident. You wont see my pain in the way you would a person undergoing chemo for cancer; however, my pain is just as real and just as debilitating. And in many ways my pain may be more destructive because people can’t see it and do not understand....

Please don’t get angry at my seemingly lack of interest in doing things; I punish myself enough I assure you. My tears are shed many times when no one is around. My embarrassment is covered by a joke or laughter, but inside I want to die....

Most of my "friends" are gone; I have been accused of "playing games" for another’s sympathy. I have been called unreliable because I am forced to cancel plans I made at the last minute because the burning and pain in my legs or arms is so intense I cannot put my clothes on and I am left in my tears as I miss out on yet another activity I used to love and once participated in with enthusiasm.

I feel like a child at times... Just the other day I put the sour cream I bought at the store in the pantry, on the shelf, instead of in the refrigerator; by the time I noticed it, it had spoiled. When I talk to people, many times I lose my train of thought in mid sentence or forget the simplest word needed to explain or describe something. Please try to understand how it feels to have another go behind me in my home to make sure the stove is off after I cook an occasional meal. Please try to understand how it feels to “lose” the laundry, only to find it in the stove instead of the dryer. As I try to maintain my dignity the Demon assaults me at every turn. Please try to understand….

Sleep, when I do get some, is restless and I wake often because of the pain the sheets have on my legs or because I twitch uncontrollably. I walk through many of my days in a daze with the Fibro-fog laughing at me as I stumble and grasp for clarity.

And just because I can do a thing one day, that doesn’t mean I will be able to do the same thing the next day or next week. I may be able to take that walk after dinner on a warm July evening; the next day or even the in the next hour I may not be able to walk to the fridge to get a cold drink because my muscles have begun to cramp and lock up or spasm uncontrollably. And there are those who say “but you did that yesterday!” “What is your problem today?” The hurt I experience at those words scars me so deeply that I have let my family down again; and still they don’t understand….

On a brighter side I want you to know that I still have my sense of humor. If you take the time to spend with me you will see that. I love to tell that joke to make another’s face light up and smile at my wit. I love my kids and grandbabies and shine when they give me my hugs or ask me to fix their favorite toy. I am fun to be with if you will spend the time with me on my own playing field; is this too much to ask? I love you and want nothing more than to be a part of your life. And I have found that I can be a strong friend in many ways. Do you have a dream? I am your friend, your supporter and many times I will be the one to do the research for your latest project; many times I will be your biggest fan and the world will know how proud I am at your accomplishments and how honored I am to have you in my life.

Please understand that being sick doesn't mean I'm not still a human being. There are days where I have to spend most of my day flat on my back in bed and I might not seem like great company, but I'm still me stuck inside this body. I still worry about school and work and my family and friends, and most of the time I'd still like to hear you talk about yours too.

Please understand the difference between "happy" and "healthy". When you've got the flu you probably feel miserable with it, but I've been sick for years. I can't be miserable all the time, in fact I work hard at not being miserable. So if you're talking to me and I sound happy, it means I'm happy. That's all. I may be tired. I may be in pain. I may be sicker that ever. Please, don't say, "Oh, you're sounding better!". I am not sounding better, I am sounding happy. If you want to comment on that, you're welcome.

Please understand that being able to stand up for five minutes, doesn't necessarily mean that I can stand up for ten minutes, or an hour. It's quite likely that doing that five minutes has exhausted my resources and I'll need to recover - imagine an athlete after a race. They couldn't repeat that feat right away either. With a lot of diseases you're either paralyzed or you can move. With this one it gets more confusing.

Please repeat the above paragraph substituting, "sitting up", "walking", "thinking", "being sociable" and so on ... it applies to everything. That's what a fatigue-based illness does to you.

Please understand that chronic illnesses are variable. It's quite possible (for me, it's common) that one day I am able to walk to the park and back, while the next day I'll have trouble getting to the kitchen. Please don't attack me when I'm ill by saying, "But you did it before!". If you want me to do something, ask if I can and I'll tell you. In a similar vein, I may need to cancel an invitation at the last minute, if this happens please don't take it personally.

Please understand that "getting out and doing things" does not make me feel better, and can often make me seriously worse. FM/CFS may cause secondary depression (wouldn't you get depressed if you were stuck in bed for years on end!?) but it is not caused by depression. Telling me that I need some fresh air and exercise is not appreciated and not correct - if I could do it, I would.

Please understand that if I say I have to sit down/lie down/take these pills now, that I do have to do it right now - it can't be put off or forgotten just because I'm doing something. FM/CFS does not forgive.

Please understand that I can't spend all of my energy trying to get well. With a short-term illness like the flu, you can afford to put life on hold for a week or two while you get well. But part of having a chronic illness is coming to the realization that you have to spend some energy on having a life now. This doesn't mean I'm not trying to get better. It doesn't mean I've given up. It's just how life is when you're dealing with a chronic illness.

If you want to suggest a cure to me, please don't. It's not because I don't appreciate the thought, and it's not because I don't want to get well. It's because I have had almost every single one of my friends suggest one at one point or another. At first I tried them all, but then I realized that I was using up so much energy trying things that I was making myself sicker, not better. If there was something that cured, or even helped, all people with FM/CFS then we'd know about it. This is not a drug-company conspiracy, there is worldwide networking (both on and off the Internet) between people with FM/CFS, if something worked we would KNOW.

If after reading that, you still want to suggest a cure, then do it, preferably in writing, but don't expect me to rush out and try it. If I haven't had it suggested before, I'll take what you said and discuss it with my doctor. She's open to new suggestions and is a great woman, and she takes what I say seriously.

Please understand that getting better from an illness like this can be very slow. People with CFS have so many systems in their bodies out of equilibrium, and functioning wrongly, that it may take a long time to sort everything out.

So you see, you and I are not that much different. I too have hopes, dreams, goals… and this demon…. Do you have an unseen demon that assaults you and no one else can see? Have you had to fight a fight that crushes you and brings you to your knees? I will be by your side, win or lose, I promise you that; I will be there in ways that I can. I will give all I can as I can, I promise you that. But I have to do this thing my way. Please understand that I am in such a fight myself and I know that I have little hope of a cure or effective treatments, at least right now. Please understand….

Thank you for spending your time with me today. I hope we can work through this thing, you and I. Please understand that I am just like you… Please understand….

Gone for now

Well life as I knew it is gone :( Keith has finished his contract in Surrey and has now added his Jeep to the hour long commute through rush hour traffic to his new contract downtown Vancouver where there is no transit near him and a total of 6 parking spots for the whole crew but as the site is next door to a new Tim Horton's being built all those cars are going over to Keith's site.

Now I am back to walking and or taking transit. Going to my doctor's in New West now is a nightmare. They are building condos or as our one son calls them, medium and high density developments under what used to be Sapperton Station. Well the Station is still there but there no longer is an elevator nor escalator. Only 5 flights of stairs. Which is ok going down but going back up is not a pleasant journey. There is one bus that gets off at Columbia Station and I can get that to my doctors but it only runs once an hour so that is as useful as a 2 watt bulb in a power outage.

For last 7 months that Keith has been in Surrey I have loved every blessed moment. I have had the Jeep to go wherever my heart wanted to. Even if I didn't get up to take Keith to work I could walk the ten minutes to his job site to pick it up. No more coming home for lunches. This really sucks.

I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed my own car!!!!!!!!! Keith tried telling me that no I did not need my own car I might WANT one but I did not need one. I said no that is not how it works. I WANT the car so bad I must need it! Female logic at its best!!

Catch up from hell

So much for my daily musings. I have just spent a week out of hell. Well figureatively speaking as I have never been to hell but if I had I would imagine it would match last week pretty close. Usually I have to contend with either my FM or with my spine very rarely do I have to deal with both at the same time. Except for this week. I don't know what set everything off but it did. What I have to do for relief for one area is contradictory for the other. For example I have to use ice to relieve the inflammation around my spine but cold sets the FM in a flareup. I have to use heat when my muscles contract but heat sets off the inflammation around my spine. Get the picture?

As if that wasn't enough, I woke up Wednesday night at 3 am reaching madly for the garbage can by the bed! Poor Keith... I don't think he has had a solid 2 hours sleep in a row any of the last few nights between holding my head from my throne, to changing ice packs on my tail bone to massaging my legs from the charlie horses.

I have missed my mammogram appointment this week as well as a shift at the family history centre, a dance at the church and a date night with hubby for Valentine's Day. I have stayed away from mirrors this morning as I can only imagine what I look like and what my hair is doing. But things could be worse. Our best friend suffered a major heart attack earlier this week. He has 3 arteries blocked 100%. They have done an angioplasty to open the 4th artery and he is in CICU. He is only 55 years old. We used to joke around all the time saying Keith had to relax before he had a heart attack as Keith is a "in your face very loud" kind of guy and our friend is a very laid back nothing fazes him kind of man. Goes to show how wrong you can be.

I am still determined to come up with something positive about my illnesses and today it is that I know one can not die from FM or degenerative disc disease. You might think you are in the middle of the night but you really are not. That is my story and I am sticking to it!!

Day 2and 3

Well Day 2 I never posted as my mother taught me that if I can't say anything nice not to say anything at all so I stayed away from my computer. Rough day. I hate this weather. I really really do. Vitamin D is really on short supply in my system because of the FM and it causes my muscles to contract because I don't get natural sun in the winter. So I have to take 2000mg of VD every day which is a large dose just to get by.

But onto Day 3... took Lareta and Miranda to Children's hospital today to be checked with an ultrasound and a visit with the pediatrician. Her fluid on her kidneys has all gone on her right one and there is just a very slight amount on her left one so the pediatrician gave her a clean bill of health and said she no longer had to go for checkups. GREAT NEWS!! We barely had time to get home when I had to dash over to the Family History Centre for my shift. It was so incredibly busy. I got to learn how to do a bunch of new things and after 3 hours of work I was sooooo ready to sit down. But my pedometer clocked in a 3.2 miles from this afternoon and although my tail bone was burning it was hurting so bad, the muscles were actually really doing well from the constant exersises and bending etc. So the positive thing is if I continue to move I hurt less.

New 21 day challenge

So as I was thinking yesterday of starting a new challenge for myself I thought of different things I could work on. We all know patience is not my strong suit and figured I had pushed my limit working on it last month or so I needed a break :) I couldn't come up with anything as I thought about it throughout the day till later in the evening when I was watching a tv movie. Keith was at the dining room table doing some assignment on his laptop when he looked at me and said Sally you just saw that movie a couple of months ago don't you remember? And it hit me!!

I know what my new challenge is going to be. This FM really grates me most days and really gets me down most other days so my challenge is going to be to come up with one positive thing that I am going through BECAUSE of the illness! Talk about a challenge! I looked at him and chuckled and Keith asked what was so funny. I said you know that is a bonus with the FM. You can watch the same show twice in a row and you won't remember you already did. I said during rerun season I can't get bored anymore cause they are all new shows to me hehehehe.

So that is my positive thing for today. My short term memory loss is a good thing during rerun season :-D

Getting money for nothing spam

For the last few weeks I have been corresponding with a Maria something or other in regards to this 40 million dollars that she says is coming to me. When I first read it I thought people don't really fall for this do they? But I have been playing along with her trying to get more information from her so that I can send it to the frauds commission and it is hilarious at the ends she/he will go through to get me to agree to fly to Spain and open up a non resident bank account so that they can put money in there from the Russian government. Anybody with half a brain would have checked out this so called person from Russia that the money has come from and known that he is the head of the Russian mob! OH yes just who I want knocking on my door looking for money! The Russian mob...

Too funny! So now she is saying I don't actually have to go to Spain to open up the account that they can do it for me. And how exactly are you planning on doing this without my signature? Oh well we just need you to fax us all your bank information, your name phone number SIN number etc etc.. Oh yes I will jump right on that band wagon lol.

The people I feel for are the elderly who get caught in these scams because they really still do trust everyone and they don't have the access to search online for information on these scams. What throws me is don't these idiots ever check the internet either to see if they are being monitored? There are pages and pages of the 419 scams on there with the exact same letter that I received just with different names. DUH... You may get me to read my emails at 3 am cause I can't sleep but I am not that stupid to actually send you my information so that you can wipe me out of my last 2 cents in my bank account!

Frustration and the man on the moon

So I went to see my Rheumatologist yesterday 2 months before my scheduled checkup as I have been in a lot of pain. He checked things out and we went through different options. I asked him if what I was going through was normal. He said FM is anything but normal. It's not a normal disease with normal problems. Not what I wanted to hear. He checked me out and said "You really are wired huh?" DUH!! Why do you think I am here?

He is sending me for a bunch of lab work to make sure everything is fine that way and gave me a choice of 2 new drugs. One I would have to go off of the one I am on now and I would have to wean myself off of it first. We tried that before with drastic negative results. So what we are going to do is go on the one medication for a few weeks, see if it works, and if it does then start weaning myself off the other one. Hopefully that will help and I won't go in such withdrawals.

I said you know it really ticks me off that man can have resources to fly to the moon and yet can't develop a drug or find a cure for something here on earth. I told him I have done everything I know to do to ease this, I lost 150 pounds, I don't eat white stuff when I can help it, I eat fruits, grains lots of veggies, I walk everyday, I work out every day and still I am not better. My sleep in interrupted and I spend my nights going from the bed to the couch to the recliner then back again.

UGH!!!! He did give me a name of a herbal product that I can try for the memory loss so will go and check it out. It is soooooo frustrating! I still believe very strongly that all this comes from the spraying of our farms with DDT when I was growing up! They stopped using the chemical after a few years but by then it was too late. It was in our food, in our water, in our animals and fish. But how do you prove it??

Oh well back to the drawing board I guess. I am going to continue working on my frustration levels though even though the 21 days are gone. Obviously I still have issues to work on. I am putting on a family history fair on March 10th and I have been on someone's case to get the building booked for a month now. A few minutes ago I got a phone call saying oh the building is booked and the earliest date is April 28th!!!! What is the point of delegating if people don't do what they are asked when they are supposed to!!! The building was free when I checked for dates a month ago!

Better Days

Well I have done much better in the last half of my 21 day challenge on patience then I did at the beginning. I have been doing some meditating and different stretching exercises which has helped with the pain which of course makes me feel a whole lot better. It is bright and sunny today supposedly staying like this for next 2 weeks!! YEAAA!!

We leave in the morning for Lethbridge to visit with Kim, Mary and the children for a few days so am excited about that! I am putting together a huge family history fair in March so have been looking for instructors on different classes I want to hold. Hopefully we will get a great turnout. I find when I am busy I think less of how much I am hurting and it keeps my brain busy which is always a good thing.

I also am working on getting this last 10 pounds off that I have been working on for the last 11 months. I don't know if it's my body's way of saying no this is my get real weight or if I need to step up on the exercises more but it sure is determined to hang around my butt let me tell you!

I have this skinny fushia colored vertical line on my screen and when I called the company yesterday they said I had to package it up, ship it there (wherever that was) which would take 7-10 days and then same amount of time coming back and then whatever it took for it to be fixed there. I thought that could be like 3 weeks with no computer??? I don't think so! I think I will put up with my line for now. I am not prepared to go 3 weeks with no monitor!

That's about it for now for me. I probably won't have time to post again before we get back on Sunday. My youngest brother and his family fly in on Sunday for an overnight stay so that will be exciting to see them!

Family History

First of all I need to mention that I did make it out to the 2nd day of training but didn't last the whole day. I pushed myself to go and I learnt a lot but by 1PM I was in too much pain to focus on the instructor and at break told him I needed to go. I should have left before hand but too stubborn I guess. I can make up the missed portion when he does the seminar again in March. I will miss day 3 this week as we will be in Lethbridge for a granddaughter's baptism so will do the day and a half when I get back.

As a new Family History Consultant worker, I have been fine tuning my genealogy this week, spending time entering new information in my computer program and filing stacked paperwork out of the basket and in the proper folders. I learnt 2 things this week that I was not happy about. First one was finding out my mother's maiden name is not that at all. Well it is technically but when the family first came to Canada there were given a new name by the English that met the ships coming from Europe. Why I have no idea. She couldn't remember if it was because too many people already had that name or they couldn't pronounce it or what. It blew me away. She said she thought she had told me that before. Uh no Mom I am pretty sure I would remember you telling me that was not my name!! She couldn't remember what her name used to be but would try and find out.

The other thing I found out was that as I was getting names together to take to the temple this week to get them temple ready I was working on my maternal grandmother's. I printed the info off the PAF file but the name was marked off as already done!!! I printed it off to look at it and sure enough someone in Lethbridge AB had submitted her name. At first I thought I must have left her info with Kim last time I was there and he thought I wanted him to get it done but when I asked him he said no even though the person comes from his town.

This was very disheartening. Keith said well isn't the most important thing the fact that she has been done by someone? I said well yes maybe in my head but seeing as how my head and my heart are rarely on the same page it made me very sad. Our oldest granddaughter is 12 and going on her first youth baptism trip in a couple of months and she had been quite excited in doing her baptism.

On the upswing Keith has been working on his pedigree line for the last 2 weeks. Last night he kept asking me a bunch of questions on dates and spelling etc and of course it was right in the middle of something I was engrossed in watching on tv. After like the millionth question I finally asked what he was doing. He said working on his pedigree line. I said well why are you redoing it when Kim has a big chunk done and I have a big chunk done why don't you just "copy and paste" sort of thing? He said cause that means you guys are #1 on yours and I am another number and I want to be #1. Oh brother!!!!!

Competition between his sons, son in law and him are so childish sometimes but funny to watch :) Curt and Lareta got a new coffee table last week and of course it had to have been the exact one Keith had been eyeing for ages lol. He is not going to be happy!

Weather weather go away

Here it is just after 4:30 in the morning and I am up. My body woke me up with pain about 1/2 hour ago and I knew it was raining again without even looking out the window. I was determined I was going to get out of bed without waking Keith up as he has been working almost around the clock at work once again. Took me half an hour but I succeeded.

I took my first day of training yesterday and I don't know if I will be able to make it for the 2nd day. It's 6 hours of sitting on a very uncomfortable chair and even though they allow all of us to freely move around in the classroom it wasn't enough for me so by the time Keith picked me up at the end I had to hit the narcotics to tone it down.

We talked about how we will teach new clients about the stage of anger/frustration/fear and I was very honest with them with the fact that right now those three words are just one for me. I am angry asking myself why me all the time. I am frustrated that half of my week I am not even able to get dressed or climb in the shower without Keith's help. Even though rationally that would never happen in this lifetime, I fear that Keith will leave telling me that he has had enough of looking after me. I tell him this and he keeps telling me that I put up with him during what he calls his idiot years that it is his turn. I know this on good pain days but you can't convince me of this on bad pain days.

And lately the bad pain days overrun any good. I get frustrated cause I have to ask someone to explain to me again how to program my vcr to record something. I get frustrated cause I have to talk to my son in AB to explain to me once again how to do something on the computer when I just asked him the same stupid question three days before. I told him the other day I don't know which causes me more stress, not asking him cause I don't want him to say Mum I just told you how to do that a couple of days ago and so I sit here without doing what it is I am trying to do, or I bite my tongue and ask him then feel like a stupid idiot cause as soon as he tells me I remember. He just smiled and said it's ok Mum

I am mostly impatient with myself these days. I want to be so busy I want do so many things. Someone the other day said well maybe you just need to pray more. I said I don't want to pray more I want to go somewhere and scream my head off.

So I guess I would have to say on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worse day with my patience goal for my 21 day challenge and 1 being a very good day I would have to put myself at a 9. Part of me knows I will probably have to cancel this 2nd day of training and I am impatient with myself with this weather that is causing all this.

and the frustration continues

So now it is my computer that is driving me around the bend. I now have a vertical very skinny PURPLE line about a third of the way on my screen. Why you may ask? I have no idea but it drives me crazy. As well half the time I can't get my windows (programs) to open fully. If I want my mail to open I will get the middle part of the window but not the borders where of course all the icons and menus are for tasks in my mail. I have to move the mouse cursor along till I see the word and then click on that.

Or else I will get the borders but the middle part will show whatever is on my desktop image at that moment. UGHHHH!! I then have to shut everything down and completely shut the computer off. Then after I leave it for half hour or so and reboot it will work for a few hours then starts up again. I have been working on my genealogy and it is so frustrating to be right in the middle of something and have to shut it all down!!

I have checked and rechecked for viruses but nothing there. Keith is swamped at work so isn't home long enough to do more then nap before he heads out again so doens't have time right now to work on it. Any suggestions out there?

I started my training at a family history centre yesterday now that I am a bonafide consultant. It was great that I had access to free ancestry. com where as now you have to pay at home to belong. Cool perk.

Today and tomorrow I start my training to becomes a facilitator for University of Victoria. It's today and tomorrow for this week. It will allow me to teach 6 week long workshops for people living with chronic pain and those who are their caregivers. I sure can walk the walk let me tell you. I can tell you all sorts of things about living with chronic pain.

Well I see it is snowing once again like crazy so I better get off of here and get going. Had I opened my blinds before now I would have seen that and would have left already to give myself enough time to do my little jog dances as I slip and slide all the way to the bus stop.

Day 6

Good thing there isn't any chocolate in the house or I would have been chomping on that all that. I have no idea what was wrong with me. I was supposed to take Keith to work this morning so I could have the Jeep to run errands and get a parcel at the bus station. But I had a bad night so wasn't able to get up with him. I got up and went back to bed three times today! I hate it when I get like this :( Then he had to work late :( I thought he was done. I really wanting him to go shopping with me to get birthday presents all week but he was too busy. So we go today as he has a 1/2 break and we go dashing to the store and dashed through the store and I hated it. Off he goes back to work to be back by 5:30 but doesn't get back till past 7:30. I was not a patient person at that time and I had no nerve left.

I was so frustrated I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and cut my hair very short!!! All by myself. Have no idea what the back looks like but the front half of me looks pretty good. Didn't get rid of my frustrated levels or impatience ;(

I missed 2 completely different training sessions this week because of this snow and that frustrates me!! It's just snow for pete's sake!! So I start my first shift at the genealogical centre next Wednesday with no training whatsoever. Good thing I have memorized my manual let me tell you. Well it is 1:45 am so am going to attempt to go to bed and see if I can stay in there this time. Nite all

Day 5

Today was a good day... I really shouldn't post on how patient I have been until at least the day is over lol but I figured I better do it now while I am in a good mood :) A very good friend sent me this today from www.flylady.com (Thanks Sara) and it made me chuckle

"I have no regrets about anything. Every decision I have made in my life has ended up being a
good one even if at the time it was not. I learned from my mistakes and did not pine away my future by beating myself up over past mistakes. None of us are perfect and the sooner we understand this and quit punishing ourselves for this lack of perfection the better off we will all be. Perfectionism keeps us stuck in the past so we are unable to function in the present. Let's take that perfectionism bat your are beating yourself up with on a daily basis and use it to hit home runs. Each time you see perfectionism throwing you a curve ball; turn it around and hit it back to where it belongs; Out of sight and out of mind! Perfectionism is the Body Clutter we all have to face."

Now where did I put that bat????

I got the privilege of having our 3 year old granddaughter today. Yesterday Mommy took over 3 hours to get home from work and this little munchkin HATES to be in the carseat for more then a couple of minutes so it was not a pleasant drive home. I offered to take her so if traffic was bad again our DIL at least was able to do it without too much hassles

So this morning we got all bundled up and dug out the tobaggan and went to go visit her auntie and cousin. Then after a bit they got all dressed up and we all went for a long walk. Who would have thought that a 3 year old and a 2 year old would have weighed soooooo much?? I am sure I won't have to worry about that excess skin hanging from my underarms anymore as I sure built up my triceps and biceps hauling them around through the snow.

But now I hurt like heck from back spasms and Papa just got home so I am going to take some pain killers and go for a nap! I put a selection of small goals on the fridge door to work on while working on my patience levels. One of them was to be patient with Keith at dinner time when my nerves are shot and he asks me if dinner is ready. So now every day at dinner time Keith comes up to me and gently asks if I still have one nerve left lolol. I guess he thinks as long as I have one left it's ok to ask if dinner is ready :)

Day 3 and 4

I have to post 2 days worth as we had no power yesterday. Well actually we had partial power if you can figure that one out. We had electricity but no cable, tv, internet and phone only part of the time. No wonder the pioneers went to bed right after dinner!!! Yesterday and today have been easier days for my patience levels. But I cheated I must add. Yesterday I sewed most of the day and today I ironed. Two things that have a very calming effect on me. Weird I know. I mean who in their right minds loves to iron clothes??

We are in the middle of a big snow storm right now. We got hit with a storm late yesterday afternoon. In a matter of 10 minutes we had thunder, hail, sleet, pounding rain then thick snow. We woke up this morning to heavy snowfall and now at 3pm it is knee high outside. The houses across the street last night lost their power and as I was cleaning up from making Keith's lunch late in the evening I could see that there weren't even candles on in the homes. I knew people were home. I just kept shaking my head telling myself I am NOT going to go over AGAIN with candles and supplies for my neighbors. I mean how much are you supposed to help your fellow man until they get the picture to get their lives in order?

We have been warned and forewarned to get our emergency kits in gear and ready. And yet now with our 14th storm in 5 weeks, people still are not prepared. At our last big storm we went out and helped our neighbors and some of them had flashlights but no batteries, some had candles but no matches or lighters. None had extra water just what would have come out of their taps. Which would have been fine but we were on boil water advisory so that was useless and there was no water to be bought in the stores.

We have been warned of this impending storm for 3 days now and on the noon news they showed service stations with cars lined up to get storm tired on. HELLO people!!! Were you not listening? We have had our kits done for over 25 years and the first weekend of April and October we pull them out, go through them, change our clothing for the season, put "fresh" food and water in them, change the batteries etc etc.

Hmmm I guess I am not quite so patient at the moment as I thought I was hehehehe. To me, waiting to be rescued by someone else during an emergency is akin to ostrich sticking their heads in the sand.... if I don't think about it then it won't happen to me. I still would like to know when do you stop helping and let people stand on their own two feet? If I stop helping does that mean I can no longer be a Good Samaritan? Does that make me a bad person?

Well my dryer is beeping at me letting me know it's time to go change laundry loads. Maybe I better get to doing some more ironing in case a neighbor comes over to borrow something and I can cheerly hand it over rather then take their head off :)

Exercise in Futility

Note to self: Never go shopping for new pants 2 days after telling the world you are going to work on your patience!! I decided I must go out and look for a new pair of dress pants. I have one pair that really don't fit well and need another pair. I would even be happy with casual dress. But pair after pair after store after store no luck. Who in their right mind decided that pants belong down past the crack of women's butts???? Obviously some man! I can not imagine any woman designer deciding that would be beneficial to anyone.

When I found pants long enough they barely covered my butt. I wear a size 12 and I tried pants from size 10-16 and everything was either too big or too small or too young looking or too short. I have the misfortune of having my hig bone and my waist at EXACTLY the same spot. I know I know can't be done.. trust me .,.. they are... so even if the tag on the pants say mid-rise (which is still too low in my opinion) they still rode too low. The second I sit in them they crawl down!

The average dimension is 4" between top of hips and waist line. Mine is 0". People never believe me till I show them. The outside of my legs is 42" long. Not easy to find pants let alone jeans which is why I have one of each only and wear the same thing.... ARGGGGG frustration!! No patience today... I think I will go find a piece of chocolate something then have a nap.. that should make me feel better.

Will work on the patience again after those two things get accomplished!

Patience

Well I am starting my 21 day challenge today. In Relief Society today, we talked about goals. I said that normally I have tons of them to work on but this year it is singly one thing I am working on. And that is to remember that I need patience when dealing with others. I need to understand not everyone is OCD and that not everyone does things at my speed. And that's ok... that is not where they are in this point of their life. But I am .... which is why I need to let things go. Like my release as Primary President. I have never reacted to a release like I did in the Bishop's office. I knew deep in my core of my heart that he was wrong with it but many prayers later I realized that it's not place to object to the Lord of where He wants me to go serve. I am still very sad at my release but I am working my patience in knowing that maybe just this once Heavenly Father knows me best and knows where my talents will be put to use in better places. I want to work on my cover page so it looks so much better. I am trying to get my web design person over to help me so I can do so much more but he is being stubborn! :) I will keep you posted on how my 21 day challenge is going. I would love some feedback on how am I doing on my posts :)

Sally

21 Day Challenge

A very good friend of mine has been doing this 21 day challenge with her life and with her scrapbooking. She is an absolute genius!! Each day she is given a quote and she does a page up that deals with that quote. I have decided to do this as well although they are halfway through the challenge already I will just use quote 1 as my day 1. Hopefully I can figure out how to scan my journal page so it comes up on here but somehow I think unless my computer kid moves here to help me I will be stranded :) But I will begin it tomorrow to give myself today to gather my supplies and get it ready.

Dressing Bodies

Well today I had a first experience. I got to dress a woman who had passed away. The family had requested that I do it... apparently she had requested it before she died. I didn't realize I had left such a lasting impression on her. I was very honoured but I have to admit it was the most difficult thing I have ever done. Being the perfectionist that I am, it took me forever to get things just right. I kept thinking of how I would want my clothes on. I am sure the funeral home staff must have wondered who I was talking to as they could hear me rambling on but it made it less "freaky" if I kept on a conversation like she could actually answer back.

It's not an experience I want to repeat any time soon let me tell you but it has made me change a few things in my "to do" list of things that I want done when I die.

Easter Weekend

Well so far it has been a great weekend... 2 of our grandkids that we had not seen in about a year came down with mom on Thursday night. We were concerned that Dad who lives here and is seperated from mom would have a difficult time and try to do something stupid. Everyone was on guard but he (our son) did really well and act mature!! Go figure..

We had our Egg Hunt yesterday and the children loved it. The daughter and DIL's and I did the children's eggs outside while the men hid the adults inside.. I could hardly believe it... even hiding one another's eggs and baskets some of them took an hour to find it lol.. We watched The Chronicles of Narnia and I really enjoyed it although it really took almost 3 hours to watch it with having to put it on pause every little bit as a child needed something, another one threw up (no not from easter treats but from the flue), then another one threw up as she was going to the bathroom, then Nana had to go chnage twice as it seemed when the babies threw up I was holding them.

But all it in all it was a great dinner and family visit. We will do Easter at church tomorrow and concentrate on the real meaning of Easter and about the resurrection of Christ.

Catch up

Wow Where does the time fly!!! I can't beleive it has been this long since I was on here last. Either I must be very busy or lead a very boring life. I have to admit I have been busy getting ready for my 25th anniversary this September... fabric to buy, 13 dresses need to be made, bouquets and centerpieces to make, decisions decisions decisions. To boot have been working my tail off on my church calling and that is always a challenge. In the last month I have started a monthly luncheon group and a book club. I figured if I am going to complain that there is nothing to do I better do my share. So just got my first book in the mail and am looking forward to reading it. If anyone out there wants to join the fun let me know!!

Politics and races

We just had our civic elections here on the weekend and we got a new mayor (which I voted on) but she only got 3 out of 8 councilmans that she wanted. The other guy who was running against her, (he was mayor for 3 terms) has said that he is going to fight every change she makes as he still controls the council with more of his "people". Should that be allowed? When a new mayor comes in or even a Premier or Prime Minister not be allowed to bring their own staff in or should the opposition still be able to block and new moves?

For example, the new mayor wants to bring new and better transit to all these urban sprawling communities that are popping up everywhere. The old mayor is chairman of Translink and he says we need more highways not skytrains and more buses. He continues on to say he will block her every move. How do we stop that from happening?

Politics and Members

Should a member use membership lists, email lists and ward/stake directories to ask people to vot them in the upcoming election whether it be civil, city council, provincial or federal? Is that taking the church membership and abusing it?

Double callings

We discussed this topic in ward council last week, come to think of it, it has been discussed many times, and we still are no nearer a final decision then we were a year ago. We were debating, for lack of a better term, whether or not the bishopric should issue 2nd and 3rd callings to "responsible" members to the work of the Lord gets completed or should they continue in seeing the work not done by members who choose to not do their callings for whatever reasons they have.

When we were living in good old Sask, at one point for nearly a year I was in the ward and stake primary presidency. Our stake at the time compassed the entire province and part of Manitoba. It meant a lot of travel. Hubby also had a ward and a stake calling at the same time as did a lot of members. With our membership numbers now so much greater then 20 years ago what is going on with the members that they either don't want callings, can't have callings, or choose to not to do their callings?

Another Primary President in another ward in our city called me last week desperately asking if their scouts could join up with our troop as they could not get 2 leaders called. Sad sad state of affairs.